1/25/2004

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, used a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos to promise to rid the world of spam, or junk e-mails, within two years.

So Mr. Gates thinks he can wipe out spam? Well I’m willing to bet he can, as long as everyone runs the latest & greatest Windows. And as long as everyone runs the automatic update features and as long as everyone opens their wallets to Micro$oft.

If everyone is willing to do that I’m sure that spam as we know it will end in our lifetimes.

Am I alone is seeing a problem here? The referenced article cover two topics: Gates can end spam and 800k “zombie” spam servers in the UK alone. Hmmm, what percentage of those 800k machines are not running Microsoft Windows? 0%!!!

Mr. Gates & Co. have helped create the problem. Their software is so bug ridden, unreliable and insecure that they are the problem. The spammers are simply making use of capabilities that Microsoft builds, nay, designs into their stuff.

Bill Gates has made no effort to hide his primary ambition: “Windows On Every Desktop”. He’s been preaching this from day one. This latest ploy is simply another way to accomplish his stated goals.

If you ever find yourself feeling kindly towards Bill and his minions or believing that “they can save the world”, just keep in mind that Micro$oft has $38,000,000,000 dollars in cash. They could afford to design, build and give away a new, secure, stable and working version of Windows to everyone, not just Americans, but to everyone in the world.

No, Bill’s not an altruist. He’s not even interested in solving the problems he’s set loose on the world. He’s simply an opportunist who sees yet another opportunity to bilk the people of their dollars.

I am in no way appologizing for the spammers of the world. They deserve to be stoned in the town square, but for Bill Gates to claim that “he can end spam” is simply laughable.

And just in case you missed it, here’s an article on how Billy is to become Sir Bill.

Update

Slashdotreports that AOL is testing one of several open source anti-spam technologies. They all look like good approaches to the problem and they’re all being designed in the open - no secrets, no backdoors.